History of the Birth of Venus

2 Pages

408 Words

Through the centuries, artists have been astounded by the beauty and serenity of Aphrodite, causing various representations of guises and poses. These guises and poses caused such a stir that artists were kept busy to satisfy the hungry collectors (Loggia). “Aphrodite is known as the Greek goddess of love, desire, beauty, fertility, the sea, and vegetation” (Paris) and has many mythological significance about her to cause artists to be fascinated. Many artists have tried to depict various women as Aphrodite. This was a way for the artist to “show their own personal feeling towards the woman”. Every woman dreams of having goddess qualities and the artist try to succeed in doing so (Paris). The goddess of love and beauty has become an inspiration to many artists throughout history and continues to seduce those artists who capture her brilliance through the portrayals of her birth, mythological influences, and the ideal female body image. One way Aphrodite has influenced artists has been her birth from the sea and how artists depict not only her in great detail but also her surroundings with many influences to the piece of work. As told through numerous myths, Aphrodite was thought to have been born from the sea. An interesting subject for art.
“The Birth of Venus” by Sandro Botticelli One cannot describe the “rebirth” of lifelike art without first describing its predecessor, therefore to understand the full glory of the Renaissance, a short explanation of the Middle Ages is needed. During the Middle Ages, art had strayed from elaborate depictions of great mythological stories and beautiful scenes from the bible, to images of humans as corrupt beings and scenes of judgment and salvation from the bible. It was not permitted to paint nudes during this period; moreover the clothed figures were done with blatant ignorance to anatomy. Art during this period was used as an aid to the church; therefore whatever was boorish or s...